Promises and Deals

[Bainrigh Mab]

It's a quiet night in Rathangan, like most of them are. Streetlights shine just enough light to cast deep shadows in the streets and few windows still shine in the dark. Modern life refusing to fully recede from the claim of the night, the old trees and moss clinging between ancient stones. Small towns always seem to be settled more firmly into the land, a little closer to old superstitions and stories. In the light of day few would say so but under the cloak of night, when most are asleep, people are more inclined to admit that maybe the rolling hills of green now hidden under a low fog don't truly belong to them, no matter how many houses and roads seek to claim differently. And at this hour a drunk man walking a path home he's taken many nights before might look to the sky and for but a moment see the stars blink back at him from within the dark and he feels seen like he never has and never will again. He stumbles and quickens his pace for as accepting the feeling of being recognized in full, it's equally terrifying. Awed in a way he'd struggle to put into words come morning.

The shadow meanwhile moves on, carried on air as much as the minds of the dreamers around it. It dances across rooftops and glides through the shadows, all the while searching, seeking. Finally it finds a house and settles into it's garden. Almost playful steps bring it across the soft grass and upon the house, up into the air and to a window. It has dwelled here before, at the threshold, whispering dreams into the sleeping mind of Kathleen McManus. Dreams of strange courts under wooden boughs and flowers sprung from creeping vines. Of satyrs and dryads and earthen gnomes in colorful caps, both pretty and frightful, fair and hideous spinning under the moonlight. Of half-remembered promises of whimsy and excitement. About princes and princesses of Fae, courting and fighting and dancing.

But today the dreamer wakes. She's roused by her own dreams of being both invited and visited by the Queen of Fairies herself. But not the glittery pink kind that's being sold to little girls. No, this one still has butterfly wings but they sprout from her face and arms as much as her back. The dark spots on the fleshy wings opening to black eyes that shimmer. She's monster as much as she is royalty and her wand is not topped by a sparkly star. Or even a real wand at all. It's a spark that dances on her inhuman fingers like a living star that bends and folds impossibly, sometimes fluttering like a moth, sometimes burning like a flame, sometimes resting on her brow like a crown of gnarled roots and filigree silver.

Tap tap tap. Tap tap. Soft but insistent the tapping on her window and outside, past the disorienting reflection of herself is Queen Mab herself, clothed in shadows and peering at her from too many eyes, small in stature, not much bigger than herself, fluttering like a moth in the night. "It's time to waken." she whispers and Kat can hear her even through the closed window.

[Kathleen McManus]

Sitting up in bed, Kat peers in the dark to the silhouette outside her window, her eyes widening.

"N-no. This isn't happening again. It only happened the once..."

[Bainrigh Mab]

The figure lifts a finger of pale, almost translucent skin to her lips.

"Shh, child. All is well." she says in a soft, light voice that rings of silver bells and honey. "You need but say the word and I will take my leave. But won't you hear out what the Queen of Faeries has come to talk of first?"

[Kathleen McManus]

"It... it was just a dream. Dreams aren't supposed to..." She stops herself.

"Sam's not here. How are you real? Am I still asleep?"

[Bainrigh Mab]

"How am I real?" she laughs, then tilts her head, her eyed wings opening and closing, focusing their gaze on Kat and widening as if she just realized a truth. "Oh. But of course. You've been taught all dreams are figments; even though you've seen differently, haven't you? Perhaps you are not ready then..." she says and drifts away from the window a little, the diaphanous cloak around her shoulders spreading into wings so fine they almost seem to only exist as a ripple over the world.

[Kathleen McManus]

"...Sam made one real, but that... wasn't good."

[Bainrigh Mab]

A great sadness settles over the Faerie's face, her winged face drooping.

"Sometimes monsters lurk even in dreams." she nods ever so softly. "But tonight there are no monsters. Only me and I do not wish to do you any harm, only to offer an invitation to visit my court. If you are as brave and strong as your sister..."

[Kathleen McManus]

"Is that... near here? I remember hearing stories..."

[Bainrigh Mab]

"It's nearer here than anywhere. A step behind the curtain. I promise by the morrow, before sun's rise, your parents shall find you in your bed, safe and sound." the Fae promises and flutters closer again. She extends one slender hand in invitation and the flickering spark that hovers about her like a will-o-wisp spirals around her arm and onto the window. It's light refracts through the window like little spindly legs that make the air shimmer as it spins to and fro and with a soft click the window unlatches and swings open.

[Kathleen McManus]

"I guess... promises are what you need, with your sort," she says as she cautiously gets up and goes to the window.

[Bainrigh Mab]

The air outside smells like fresh flowers and bubbling streams and old leaves. Tiny scales scatter like dust from the creatures' wings and catch the light of the moon. The tiny dancing mote lands on the windowsill like a fluffy, incandescent moth, waggling it's bushy feelers made of light at Kathleen.

"Indeed. You're a clever young lady. A promise cannot be broken and I do not wish to take or keep you against your will. You'd be a welcomed guest and that's one of the oldest magic there is."

[Kathleen McManus]

"I think I just... wasn't sure what was real, you know?" She says, stepping outside cautiously.

[Bainrigh Mab]

"Not to worry, little one. You're sharp and it's clever to never assume." she says, taking Kat's hand to help steady her on the windowsill. "Now hold on tight."

The wings on her face fold back, smoothing down against her face as she spreads her diaphanous wings and the little will-o-wisp flutters into the air. She gently snatches it with her other hand and as her wings spread further their surface ripples with distant images of wild woods growing over columns and arches, shadows moving between them in the night. And then the wings sweep over the two of them and the world tilts and shifts like it's spinning on an unseen fulcrum and suddenly they're standing in a dark plaza in the woods. The smell of ancient trees is heavy in the air along with hints of fragrant herbs and fruits. The Faerie Queen sweeps her arm and sends the little ball of light outward and where it passes in a circle around them lights hanging from the overgrown columns around them begin to light up with a gentle glow, illuminating a courtyard beneath bowing branches, pathways snaking off into the woods and stairs leading up to a throne of living wood.

"Welcome to my realm, dear Kat."

[Kathleen McManus]

In spite of her trying to play things cool, Kat can't help but be impressed, looking around in wonderment.

"Is that... the only light here?"

[Bainrigh Mab]

"It was night when we departed, was it not? Time flows differently but our worlds are still connected." her guide informs her, but that doesn't make the shadows beyond the circle of feint light any less deep and filled with movement that only seems to happen in the corner of Kat's eyes. "Don't mind the court, they're just curious about our visitor arriving in the flesh."

The Fae walks up to the throne, though her steps are floating and barely seem to touch the ground. And the raised seat lowers and grows nearer as if each step was eating up distance as well as other qualities about her destination. Kat could have sworn that the throne was at least ten, fifteen feet above ground level but by the time the Fairy Queen lowers herself into it the wide pillar that raised it up is a mere foot of raised pedestal and the wide gnarled roots that sweep out from it have withdrawn into pale-green fledgling sprouts. Even the glowing light in the branches around the clearing seems to respond, brightening and driving the dark shapes further back into the shadows.

"Welcome, Kathleen McManus, to the Court of the Unseelie. Do not accept any food that is offered or drink that is given to you here, but pluck it from the earth and catch it in your cupped hands. As long as you take what is not offered you won't be ensnared by pact or caught in unspoken promise. Such is the power of mortals here."

[Kathleen McManus]

"I'm not going to be here long enough that I should need to eat, right? You said you just wanted to talk?"

[Bainrigh Mab]

"I am simply warning you to be courteous." the Fae says and for a moment Kat can sense a buried anger trying to break to the surface. Even the light seems to dim at the perceived offense, like a cloud passing over a bright moon and in it's shadow the otherworldly grace and beauty of the strange creature twists and squirms. But the moment passes in the blink of an eye and the light returns to the court with the pleasant smile on her face.

"But you are right, of course. I merely want to talk. You're jealous, are you not? Of your sister? You're the one whose nightmares were made manifest and yet she's the gifted one who went away to adventure..."

[Kathleen McManus]

"I mean, it's not... that was ages ago, and she couldn't help it. She didn't mean to."

"And I don't know if there's anything fair about any of it. She is what she is. I've tried to read stuff about it but half of it doesn't make sense. It might run in our family, it might not, she even said I might be like... a late bloomer?"

[Bainrigh Mab]

"Oh, oh deary, there's nothing wrong with feeling jealous or even mad that it's not fair. But you're right, all the knowledge and cleverness of humankind only scratches the surface. Even your sister, blessed though she is doesn't fully understand. Perhaps that is why she hasn't shared what she knows with you. Or perhaps she thinks you're too little still to know the truths she learned..."

[Kathleen McManus]

"It's... it's cool, you know? And like, all her friends can do things too."

"What do you mean about that last bit, though?"

[Bainrigh Mab]

"She went on quite the adventure and learned a great many things. I was there with her, at times. It's quite the complicated tale but I can tell you it if you wish. It's the story of the Last Great Faerie and how her heart was mended..."

[Kathleen McManus]

"Seems like a bit of a self-insert there," she smirks as only a tween can at an internet joke.

[Bainrigh Mab]

The fae laughs. "Oh no, it's not me. I inherited a mere fragment of the power she once held. But I'm getting ahead of myself..."

"It all began a long time ago in a distant realm not too different from yours. A young Faerie fell for a mortal man but with her love spurned she fled deep into the woods. Stumbling and falling she descended deeper than anyone, man or fae had ever gone. It was there, deep within the heart of the world that she decided she would hold her court, all by her lonesome. Soon her broken heart grew dark and cold as ice and with it her thoughts became bitter and vengeful. For you see, she'd found power unrivaled this deep in the woods, able to shape not just the physical realm but dream, time and the very fabric of the world. But the price she paid for claiming this power for herself was that she would never again be able to leave her court. It had become her lonesome prison at the heart of the world.

In her stead she send changelings out into the mortal realm. Puppets through which she'd lash out at the mortals. The man who had spurned her had long since died but his... descendants, his bloodline and those of his friends remained. Echoes of a love long lost she would chase and seek out ways to break their hearts in turn. For a long, long time she would seek the mortal realms and sow pain until even that was no longer enough to sate the bitterness in her heart. And so, when she came across a realm with walls full of cracks she was able to spill her cosmic power into it just a little more. Just enough to create creatures of pure power she'd send to try and steal one of the man's descendants into the deep woods, but the man had friends who thought themselves mighty heroes and among them was your sister.

They set out to put an end to the Great and Terrible Faerie's machinations once and for all, but the woods were deep and dark indeed and so a young faerie offered to show them the way and lead them safely through the woods if she would, in return, be granted a single wish. And that faerie is the self-insert in this tale. They set out, fighting their path through the Mad Queen's monsters and I lead the ay for them, though I have to admit that at times even I became frightened and I'm not as brave a hero as your sister. I feared the Queen's wrath and at times wavered, leaving our heroes to fend for themselves. But in the end she made it look like she betrayed the heroes so she could slip them deep into the Queen's Court of gnarled and frozen wood. There they fought a great battle and the young man the Queen had sought to claim was prepared to sacrifice himself for his companions, but the Queen had one last trick up her sleeve. Her Changeling had accompanied the heroes and been an unwitting spy for the Queen, once merely a part of the Dark Queen the Changeling had grown to genuinely care for the young man and his companions.

And so the heroes revealed a trick of their own. They'd known about the Changeling and clever as I am I'd taught your sister secrets I'd found wandering the woods of how to weave the magic of body, mind and soul and your sister used all her might to stitch the Changeling and Mad Queen's heart back together once more and finally, after untold eons her heart was whole again. So relieved at the melting of her heart, she relinquished her power to go with the heroes to live happily ever after. And with the icy grip on her realm released the woods began to close around them for neither mortal nor fae were meant to be in this place. In a way, these woods were never meant to truly exist as a place to be walked on and the heroes fled the collapsing realm.

But I was not with them and through all of this my wish had still gone unfulfilled and I knew your sister had no reason to grant it now. And so, as I fled the fading realm I stopped to find my tree, for everyone had one growing somewhere in the woods. In fact these trees were the source of the Mad Queen's power to begin with. Their roots reached all the way into the mortal realm to touch those lucky enough to be deserving of a fraction of their power. And before the woods would disappear from anyone's reach forever I climbed my tree and I found a single sprouting bud so the secrets your sister and me had learned would not be lost. The secret magic of Mind, Body and Soul that binds and severs the roots of the trees from the hearts of mortals. Of how to bestow gifts to those who yearn for them."

[Kathleen McManus]

"But it... it happens on its own, right? Not just because some crazy... thing decides to do it. It was something she found, not something she made?"

[Bainrigh Mab]

The Faerie Queen smiles almost gently, recognizing the concern about being at the whims of something dreamed up by a terrible, inscrutable mind.

"Yes. The magic the three Faeries found has always been. The Mad Queen nigh became it, your sister almost fears it and now I wield but a sliver of it. But is was before us and will be long after. It is like waves in the ocean."

[Kathleen McManus]

"I guess I can see why she might. That's... that's a lot."

[Bainrigh Mab]

"And yet, the truth that terrifies the most is that no gift seeks it's wielder without some part of their heart longing for it. She shies from the scope and responsibility of something that fits the shape of her soul yet I cannot blame her for it." she nods. "But I think she wishes I would too. And why I did not think she would ever grant my wish to talk to you."

[Kathleen McManus]

"You and her... sound a lot alike," she says, looking Mab over again.

[Bainrigh Mab]

The smile on the Fae's face grows but her eyes seem infinitely sad.

"We are, all three of us. Perhaps we grew from the same branch, washed by the tide onto different shores."

[Kathleen McManus]

"You like the sea, don't you? Like yeah, we're here in the forest and there's faerie lights and everything but... there's a lot of the sea in you."

[Bainrigh Mab]

"The ocean is not very welcoming. I didn't want to scare you."

[Kathleen McManus]

"You just keep bringing it up," she shrugs.

"It's okay. You like what you like."

[Bainrigh Mab]

"Would you have leapt from the cliffs into briny sea? You're made from sterner stuff but... I am a monster. Even in the depths the fangs hide behind ghostly lights and the last time I've seen you---a young one like yourself there were only screams."

[Kathleen McManus]

"I screamed at my sister too, and I was terrified. Fear doesn't last forever, though."

[Bainrigh Mab]

"It does when the monster wins." She's not sure why she's telling Kat as much as she is. Well, she kind of is but that wasn't part of the plan.

"But that does not matter. If you lived near the sea perhaps I would have appeared to you as a mermaid. What matters is if you want to leave empty-handed but for a fanciful story or stay a little longer and learn how to grasp a spark of your own..."

[Kathleen McManus]

"I don't even know how to get back if I wanted to, so I'm not sure you need to bribe me at this point."

"I'm not scared. I'm just not sure why you think I should be."

[Bainrigh Mab]

"Most children would be if they knew not the way home."

[Kathleen McManus]

"I'm not most children, or you wouldn't be bothering with me."

[Bainrigh Mab]

"Well then, brave little girl, what do you wish you were able to do?"

[Kathleen McManus]

"Okay so... you know Sam and all. Do you know her girlfriend?"